Jim Bailey as Judy Garland

Jim Bailey as Judy Garland
Leicester Square Theatre
David Shepherd & Brian Daniels for D&B Productions
9th-14th June 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

Judy Garland, a self proclaimed legend, the original diva. There is only one Judy Garland; or is there? Those that have seen Jim Bailey over the last five decades in which he has been paying tribute to Ms Garland may disagree.

I wouldn’t have believed it without seeing it for myself. How can anyone become Judy Garland, let alone a man and yet sure enough, no more than one song into this performance you are no longer seeing a man in drag but Judy Garland herself. Bailey is not just a one trick pony either, in fact he portrays many great stars; Barbara Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Mae West to name but a few. However for now, whilst in London for this limited run he is paying tribute to that girl who just wanted to fly over the rainbow.

With The Wizard of Oz on TV every Christmas and Easter Parade every Easter it’s hard to believe that it’s actually forty years since Judy Garland died. This year she would have been 87 years old and whilst sadly she can’t be with us, Jim Bailey really is the next best thing. From the moment he steps foot on that stage with the erratic, nervous energy that Garland was known for; you are transported back to the days of her performances at the London Palladium. He kicks off his uncomfortable shoes, struggles with the stool on stage and anxiously tugs at his hair. Garland wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t always the polished performer and this is what made her so popular with the audience, despite her many career set backs. She exposed her flaws for the entire world to see and Bailey captures this perfectly. Of course what she was most famous for was her voice; that rich, vibrant, husky sound, filled with heart ache. Again, apart from the odd crack (and lets face it if Judy Garland was still around today she’d have the odd crack too) it’s as if Garland is up on that stage as he belts out classics such as “Get Happy”, “Zing Went My Heart Strings”, “The Man That Got Away” and of course “Somewhere over the Rainbow”.

The night’s music is punctuated by conversation as Bailey talks effortlessly with the audience, telling stories, having the occasional bitch and going off on random tangents as he forgets what he is talking about (a quality Liza Minnelli has inherited from her mother). The slightly slurred speech and breathless quality to his voice is spot on in his camp but honest portrayal of this fabulous woman.

You don’t have to be an expert on Judy Garland to marvel at this astonishing act, a simple appreciation for the stars of yester year will suffice. For the majority of us who never had the chance to see Garland herself when she was last in London, this is a great opportunity to see her songs performed the way she would have performed them.

Liza Minnelli once said to Bailey that if he stopped performing Judy Garland, how would she ever see her mother again? If it’s good enough for her then it’s most definitely good enough for us.

Defending the Caveman

Defending the Caveman
By Rob Becker
Directed by Cath Farr
Leicester Square Theatre
3rd Feb – 15th March, 2009

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

10th February 2009


Defending the Caveman by Rob Becker first opened in 1991 and has now toured in over thirty countries. With this kind of run, there is no denying the wide appeal of a show like this, however nearly twenty years since it first opened, perhaps this is the reason it now feels incredibly dated.

Defending the Caveman is a one man show, the one man being Mark Little of Neighbours fame (who has been defending the caveman since 1999) and highlights the many differences between men and women.

Observational humour is always a crowd pleaser as the audience recognises themselves and their partners in Little’s portrayal of male and female rituals. However there is nothing new here. Of course it’s funny to be reminded of these things but it certainly isn’t groundbreaking.

The crux of this show is to highlight that these crucial differences between the two sexes are not a product of the 21st Century, no, they are innate and have always existed. Man – Hunter, Woman – Gatherer and this concept permeates their behaviour. For example the way in which women always want to gather information from her partner, friends, wherever she can get it and then want to share and analyse this information with others. Men on the other hand go straight for the kill. They don’t question the people around them wasting their words unnecessarily. A man says what he wants without giving it too much thought and when he has ran out of words he is happy to merely nod and grunt in approval or disapproval at something.

Of course these are highly stereotyped portrayals of men and women. In fact, considering Little highlights a man’s inability to talk endlessly, he has a fair stab at it for the hour and a half the show lasts.

If you like your comedy brash and straightforward then Defending the Caveman may appeal. However for me it is, well now, how would a “man” put it? “Yeah, it was, yeah, no yeah, mmmm, well you know, it was alright”.

Alex

Alex

By Charles Peattie & Russell Taylor

Directed by Phelim McDermott

Leicester Square Theater

25th November – 20th December 2008

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for The British Theatre Guide

28th November 2008

Alex is obnoxious, selfish and arrogant, certainly not a man you’d wish to befriend and yet London loves him. After a successful run last year at the Arts Theatre and then jetting off to Australia and Hong Kong for sell out shows, Alex is back in London boasting of his financial and personal exploits once again.

‘Alex’ is a daily comic strip about a banker (with a B!) called Alex. Created by Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor (who interestingly have never worked in finance themselves) they parody the affluent and amoral lifestyle of a city banker through the character Alex. With our current economic crisis and the credit crunch on everyone’s minds, could there be a more topical play in the West End?

The production of ‘Alex’ is literally a comic strip on stage. Robert Bathurst as Alex negotiates his way around the stage, interacting with cartoon strip characters who appear on the various screens against their black and white worlds. The interplay between Bathurst and what is happening on the screens is skilfully executed. On occasions when not interpreting what other characters have said to the audience he in fact becomes the voice of his colleagues and family, slipping effortlessly into that of a northern working class secretary or his eager, flamboyant, French, graduate trainee assistant, Sebastian. As Alex, Bathurst is a proud, pompous snob. He apologises to nobody for who he is (unless it serves his own devious plans) and even as we sit there watching disaster after disaster come his way there is still a smug air of confidence about him.

One does not have to be a financial wiz or a follower of the comic strip to recognise the character of Alex and the world he inhabits (although I’m sure it adds another level of humour if you do). I’m certain Alex himself would say that this play is an intelligent, articulate parody of the world of finance with a fantastic male lead and actually on this occasion, he’d be telling the truth.

A Conversation With Edith Head

A Conversation With Edith Head

Authors – Susan Claassen & Paddy Calistro
Production Company – Anthony Field Associates Ltd
Leicester Square Theatre

29th July – 21st August,2008

Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for the British Theatre Guide

Wednesday 6th August, 2008

Edith Head was responsible for some of Hollywood’s most infamous fashion; dressing virtually every Hollywood starlet from the late 1920s through to the early 1980s and winning eight Oscars for her work, more than any other woman has won.

Now she is in the West End for those wishing the pleasure of her company. Well, Susan Claassen is in the West End, playing Edith Head in A Conversation With Edith Head, However it is hard to tell where Susan starts and Edith ends in this utterly captivating performance.

Speaking at the time of the last film she worked on, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford this is a night of informal conversation with Ms Head as she takes you on an enchanting stroll down memory lane, bringing back to life the golden age of Hollywood.

The Leicester Square Theatre (formally The Venue) is the ideal space for this intimate occasion. Surrounded by framed photos of stars Head has worked with such as Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Davis alongside of sketches of her designs and mannequins modelling her creations, Claassen glides around the set with ease, as if she were in her own living room.

Whilst refusing to indulge in salacious gossip, Ms Head openly shares precious moments from Hollywood history: stories from film sets, the nature of her relationships with certain stars and her inspiration behind designs. All the while engaging in casual chit chat with the audience, who submit questions beforehand, as if she were talking with old friends.

As she comments on certain aspects of the audience who hang off her every word, the performance is fresh and spontaneous, all the while helped along by the charming Christopher (Christopher Arnold), the host of the evening and the well planted fanatical fan who seems to know more about Edith Head’s life than Head herself.

A beautifully frank portrayal of Head she is certainly not all sweetness and light. She is sentimental, arrogant, fun, indignant, friendly and above all a self confessed “master of self promotion”. Never wanting to go unnoticed, yet in the same breath never wanting to compete with the stars she styled. At only 5”1 (and a quarter inch) Head is a force to be reckoned with.

A Conversation With Edith Head is so much more than just a show for followers of fashion. It is about years gone by; a period in film history that set a trend for generations to come. Edith Head passed away in 1981 only two weeks after completing her last film, however as you leave the theatre with Glaassen still in character chatting to each and every person, one honestly does feel that they have met the truly inspirational woman that was Edith Head and what a privilege it is.